New cheaper test to monitor HIV

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

Please find a news pulished in The Daily Telegrams.

LONDON, APR.26. Scientists have developed a test, which can measure HIV levels

in the blood much more quickly and cheaply. Doctors need to be able to test HIV

levels to find out if patients are responding to drugs but the cost has proved

prohibitive in many countries. Scientists hope that the PLG CD4 test, which is

80 per cent cheaper than other tests, can solve that problem. Doctors around the

world find out how patients are faring against HIV/AIDS by counting their

infected CD4 cells, a type of white blood cell. However, tests are generally

expensive and burdensome.

However, the new approach to CD4 testing created by Dr Debie Glencross, a

scientist at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa is a major advance.

This new test reduces the number of steps doctors need to take to cont infected

CD4 cells. It also enables them to analyse samples up to five days after they

have been collected, which means that it can be used in rural and remote areas

and is as accurate as other tests.

“Essentially, we have taken a test that is already available-known as CD4-and

have made it considerably more affordable and easier to use, without compromise

of quality or reproducibility. At the same time, we have made a service that is

accessible to rural and remote areas,” The BBC quoted Glencross as saying.

Source: The Daily Telegram, Published from Port Blair.